


Some Type of Friend

by annihilated_nights



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28976478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annihilated_nights/pseuds/annihilated_nights
Summary: Jack tells Denton about how his best friend makes him feel.
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Some Type of Friend

“Here’s the papes’ ya’ asked for,” Jack said, dropping the hefty stack rather loudly onto the man’s desk, looking up at him with furrowed brows once they sat there, “Why’d you want them again?”

Denton glanced at Jack, before returning his attention to a picture on the wall, which he seemed busy fixing, “Oh you know, research… and such.”

Jack nodded slowly, Denton was hard to interpret sometimes, especially for him. A lot of adults were, Jack supposed maybe he liked Denton the most because he confused him less. Oftentimes the man got right to the point, no tricks, no gimmicks, plain statements, maybe a wisecrack every so often, but still. If an adult didn’t amuse Jack, they scared him, and Denton didn’t really do either of those things, he still had some adolescence in him, even if it wasn’t on the surface. Jack didn’t typically shy away from adults because of their age, it was more so because lots of them had money, power, things someone at Jack’s age didn’t typically have.

“Aren’t you planning on seeing David today?” Denton asked after a few silent moments, still fixing that damn bird painting. But that didn’t matter much to Jack, at least not at the moment.

“Yeah… I think so,” Jack said, looking across the room at the shelf full of warn out books and various disheveled papers. “I dunno, it’s funny I guess.”

“What is?” The man finally turned away from the wall and towards Jack, who was a few feet away, still standing at the desk, fumbling with the rope around his waist.

“Well, ya’ know when you have that one friend, and when you see ‘em— or even when you think about ‘em— your stomach gets all fluttery… and sometimes your head feels kinda funny?” Jack cocked his head, narrowing his eyes, struggling to figure out the feeling.

Denton paused, “Jack…”

Jack hummed in response, hardly hearing Denton’s acknowledgment.

“Does this always happen?” He asked.

Of course, it always happened, David was Jack’s best friend, it was natural for him to feel like this about him. It was natural for him to admire David as much as he did, to find him beautiful, to appreciate his wit and honesty every waking moment of his day; it had to be. “Yeah, mostly.”

Denton sighed, a look Jack couldn’t read was masking his expression as he sat on a wooden stool near the desk. “Jack I don’t know how to tell you this… but I think, judging by your physical reactions, you feel different about David than you used to.”

“Why would I feel any different?” Jack asked.

“I think he’s important to you, I’ve seen the way you look at each other,” Denton said with a smirk, playfully hitting Jack’s shoulder.

It was Jack’s turn to smile now, hesitantly, after a moment of thought, he stared at the wood of the desk as he did it, “He is…”

“You should tell him.”

Jack’s eyes widened and he quickly stood back from the desk, his eyes snapping to Denton, “Are you out of your mind? I can’t tell him somethin’ like that!”

“Jack, listen, you’re a brave young man, and I know David sees that in you, hell— we all do. He deserves to know that you feel this way.”

Of course, it was wrong to feel this way about David, well, supposedly. But Jack didn’t know love in the first place, much less with his best friend. It had always been hard for Jack to express his appreciation for David’s more than just loyalty, something told him he always knew though, even if Jack couldn’t say it; even so, Jack doubted he knew about this. “Alright, alright, quit flatterin’ me… so what do ya’ want me ta’ say?”

Denton let out a genuine laugh, “I want you to say what you think you should say.”

Jack opened his mouth to question, but thought better of it and closed it, nodding sharply. “Thanks, Denton.”

“Yeah yeah, you should go, the sun’s getting ready to set.”

Jack smiled at Denton before heading to the door, his expression immediately falling as soon as he made it into the hallway. His heart had already begun to palpitate, it was almost like he was getting chased by the bulls again, wide-eyed, breathing heavily, filled to the brim with anxious thoughts.

Though his mind was racing, he seemingly walked with the casual confidence he normally had. At least his muscle memory masked his current worries, Denton could be so convincing, figures, considering he does it for a living, but words didn’t often find themselves seeping into Jack’s mind like a nasty infection, except maybe with David.

Jack made it out to the street, which was starting to quiet down a bit, kids and families could be seen rushing home for dinner, horses getting tacked up to take their carts away, some shops flipping their signs to the side that read _Closed_. Jack hardly noticed any of it though, for once, he had a destination, somewhere he himself had to scurry to at the end of the day.

It took about twenty minutes— though it felt like thirty, until he saw that familiar tenement building. Jack didn’t give himself time to think before picking up speed the rest of the way, climbing up the fire escape with his heart drumming faster than he was moving.

Jack had never given himself time to think before these things, he’d had too much time already. Thinking too much was poison, it scared him, made him want to turn and run, but he couldn’t this time, not when he’d already come so close.

Just as Jack reached out to the window he’d approached so many times before, a distant voice interrupted his action.

“Jack!”

David smiled once Jack caught sight of him from the roof, a few levels up.

Jack smiled back, making his way up the rest of the metal stairs. He tried to shove his nerves away for the moment, best case scenario David wouldn’t notice.

Moments later, Jack stood in front of the younger boy, hardly keeping composure as David watched. “Dave, I need to tell you something.”

“Me too.”

“You go first,” Jack said. Whatever David had to say it couldn’t be as heavy as the weight Jack currently held to his chest. It was challenging to keep all of it in right now, but he knew he had to in order for the amount of tension to remain.

David nodded, letting out a sigh. “I was jealous of Sarah.”

“What do you mean?” Jack cocked his head. Siblings typically got jealous of many things the other had, talents, clothes, compliments, that sort of thing, stuff like that happened in the lodgehouse all the time.

“Every time you looked at her, complimented her, held her hand, kissed her… I wished it were me instead of her.”

Oh.

David didn’t look at Jack as he spoke, his eyes were focused on the city laid out before them, his voice was breathy as if he was ready to cry. “Jack I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, and I wish I didn’t but I do.”

Jack wasn’t with Sarah long, and he was never in love with her, she felt the same too. It wasn’t anything serious, but still, looking back, Jack had no idea why he got so involved. But then again, maybe he did. “I love you too Dave.”

“But… What about Sarah?” David turned to look at Jack now, his eyes confused and maybe a bit sympathetic.

“We didn’t love each other, and I didn’t stay for her neither.”

“Jack…” David breathed as Jack’s hand moved to gently hold his cheek.

“You’ll always be my family David,” Jack said, his voice low so only David could hear.

“And you’ll always be mine,” David smiled slightly, his tone matching Jack’s now.

The two of them were just inches from each other now, both still held in their own trance, only until Jack began to lean in, carefully, letting his fingers rest against David’s cheek still as his lips finally brushed David's.

David didn’t kiss back yet, he hesitated, unsure of the sudden closeness until he pressed his lips to Jack's again, more certain now, Jack took in a breath as David pulled him closer, his arm gently holding his waist.

“Hey,” David murmured, kissing Jack again, “Can you stay tonight?”

Jack rolled his eyes, smiling as his hand moved to rub David’s shoulder, “Sure Davey.”

**Author's Note:**

> I rewrote the confession part a few times so hopefully, you guys liked it!


End file.
